


Love Education

by gaylorswift13



Category: Fashion Model RPF, Kaylor - Fandom, Sex Education (TV), Taylor Swift (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Cheerleader Karlie, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Figuring Things Out, Fluff, Slow Burn, Teen Romance, The girls are WHIPPED, nerdy taylor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 10:03:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20469224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaylorswift13/pseuds/gaylorswift13
Summary: This fanfic was inspired by the Netflix series Sex Education.St. Louis' high school corridors - just like in every other high school - are crowded with hormonal teens trying to make sense of geometry, sex and romance, all at the same time... which ultimately always leads to disaster. When Karlie Kloss, captain of the cheerleading team, sees in the new kid a potential to solve all this teenage drama surrounding them, she jumps at the opportunity.





	1. Episode 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey gays!  
1\. English isn't my first language and I don't have a beta reader, so you'll probably find some grammar mistakes, but I'll try to reduce them to a minimum.  
2\. I obviously don't own the characters in this story.  
3\. It's a slow burn, so, despite sex being central to the story, there won't be smut for a while. I'll make sure to put it in a separate chapter when it happens for those who aren't comfortable with this type of content. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

As Karlie jumped from her car, not paying attention to the crowd of hormonal males talking just a little too loud on the parking lot, she could see Cara making her way towards her, a ridiculous smile on her face that made Karlie suspicious. They met halfway and instantly linked their arms to walk the rest of the way to the school entry.

"I had sex." It was the first words Cara said that day, instead of... Good morning, maybe? No, they never started their days with good morning anyway.

"You haven't been a virgin for a long time now, Cara. Tell me something I don't know." Karlie eyed her, waiting for the real bomb to drop.

"With Ashley." The corner of Cara's mouth lifted in a devious smirk and she eyed Karlie's reaction with the corner of her eyes.

Well. It is 2019, anyway. Internet is a thing, bisexuality isn't a mystery anymore, and even Karlie had shared a little peck on the lips with Jordan in 6th grade for experience's sake. No big deal. _Except_, this was Cara. Cara, who a week ago was crying on her shoulder because of a bad boy with a really, _really_ big dick she fell in love with – dubious meaning intended.

"And Nicholas... You broke up?"

They stopped in front of their lockers in the corridor, opening them and sorting their things slowly so that they would have an excuse to keep talking instead of going to class.

"We were never really dating in the first place, and last time... Well, you remember. He's gone all soft on me, like, literally, and left my place sobbing. Sobbing, Karlie. Such a pussy." Cara rolled her eyes, looking annoyed that the conversation took this turn.

"Boys can be sensitive, you know. Stop being a bitch." Karlie nudged Cara's ribs with her elbows and eyed her gravely. "But tell me about Ashley. So... You like girls now, huh?"

"I've always liked girls, Karlie."

"You never tried to kiss me," Karlie said, staring at her friend provocatively. Cara scoffed.

"Manage your ego, asshole. Ashley is just... amazing." She sighed dreamily, for once not looking like she was thinking solely about sex. "But I'll tell you about it after school, these walls have ears. Now, you heard about the new kid, right?" Cara asked, her smirk a little conspiratorial as she shared the gossip.

"New kid? We haven't had a new kid in years, and the last one was probably me."

"Yup, and in the middle of the school year. She's in our year too, I think. _Taylor_. Her neighbors say she's a stuck-up bitch."

"Well, the credibility of their words will depend on whether they tried to fuck her or not," Karlie stated, closing her locker, remembering the shit guys talked about her when they heard 'no' – and, eventually, that's the word every boy heard from her.

"You know how this town works. If they're talking shit, she's probably a good one."

***

Karlie understood shit about football, but she knew when to scream her lungs off, which was good enough. And she also knew her school's team was terrible, but that was just common knowledge in St. Louis. However, the cheerleading team was exceptional by national standards. Karlie couldn't slow-dance to save her life, in all honesty, but she had been captain and choreographer of the St. Louis' Angels for almost two years, and they won almost every competition under her strict supervision. Too bad the team they cheered for was trash.

After the training, that day, Karlie had to wait for Cara so they could walk home together, which she knew could take a while. Her skin was still sticking to her clothes after a quick bath, and she made her way to the school's indoor pool to see if the team was still training. As she entered the place, the only noise she heard was from a single girl, tiring herself by going from an end to the other of the pool repeatedly. Her blonde hair was loose, a brown halo floating around her, her swimming cap long forgotten next to the safety ladder.

Karlie didn't know any of the girls in the swimming team, but she enjoyed watching them training, looking like they belonged in the water just like she belonged on the top of a pyramid. That's why she recoiled herself next to the bleachers and pretended not to stare with her phone in hands. But this time she got caught. The third time she lifted her eyes to the pool, they met a second pair of bright blue eyes staring back with suspicion.

"You're not in the team."

"I'm not." Karlie smiled and approached the pool, deciding there was no use in pretending. "I just like watching, I'm a terrible swimmer."

"Well, you certainly have the shoulders for it." The girl said, lifting herself flawlessly with her hands on the edge of the pool. Karlie looked away, feeling her cheeks warm with the compliment. "You're an athlete, right? A football player?"

Karlie scoffed. "I'm offended. I can't take responsibility for the school's biggest failure since the incident with the condoms."

"That bad, huh?" The girl smiled brightly, sliding out of the pool and walking to grab her towel. God, her smile. Her bangs were starting to drop over her face, making her squint to see Karlie. "Tell me more about this incident."

"What, you don't know?" Karlie frowned. Everyone in the school was there or at least heard about the occasion when Kay Osborn from the first year was left in charge of the balloons for the 2016's spring ball. Needless to say what happened. "_Oh_, you must be Taylor."

"That's the third time someone tells me _I must be Taylor_ today. My name's running that fast?" It was Taylor's turn to frown, adorably so, as she tried to towel-dry her hair and walked towards Karlie with a frizzy halo.

"It's how things work around here. Big city girl?" Karlie's smile was growing against her will. The blonde girl was slightly shorter than her but still tall, and her blue swimsuit was clinging to her golden skin in ways it had no right to be. Karlie... admired the aesthetic.

"New York. I'm hoping you'll tell me the ways of St. Louis, then..." She stared questioningly, a strange glimmer in her eyes, and Karlie remembered she didn't introduce herself.

"Karlie. I'm the captain of the cheerleading team and-"

"And an asshole who isn't taking my calls." Cara's voice echoed in the closed place, the sound of the metallic door closing behind her. "Hi! I'm Cara." She hurried to stand by Karlie's side, her signature smirk on her lips. Karlie looked at her phone, the screen shining from the bleachers where she left it. Shit.

"I thought you'd take longer since you were with... Well, you know."

"I didn't. Well, Taylor, how was your first day in this hellhole?"

Taylor laughed, but she didn't take her eyes off Karlie while she answered. "It wasn't that bad. I reckon you have some bad history with condoms and pretty cheerleader stalkers by the pool. Way more interesting than I predicted." She laughed again, and Karlie's cheeks flushed for the second time since meeting Taylor. Damn her and her stupid compliments.

"Yeah, this one's been stalking the swimmers for two years now, God forbid she's planning something," Cara said, making Karlie feel divided between staring at Cara until she's a boiling puddle on the floor and running away from the embarrassment.

"Well, if I were some female blonde version of Ted Bundy you'd be dead by now, sweetie. Because _God... _do I wanna kill you."

Taylor chuckled at their exchange and shook her head, looking at them. "Well, I'll go change my clothes and leave you to sort the murder thing out."

"Ok, uh, see you?" Karlie said nervously, biting her lower lip.

"See you." Taylor winked, grabbing her purse on the bleachers. "Bye, Cara." She waved and disappeared behind the dressing room doors, leaving the pair behind. Cara's firm hand around Karlie's wrist told her she wasn't going to outlive this little exchange.

***

"You were blushing, Karlie. You don't blush and you were looking like Elmo, the Muppet. Red all over." Cara laughed a little too loud on their way to the parking lot and Karlie was simply staring down, trying to control her urge to punch Cara in the face.

"You're right, I don't blush. I just... She's so cool." Karlie whined, still not able to lift her eyes. "She has this big city _thing_, I don't know, I felt like the new kid trying to impress the cheerleaders' captain. Except I'm the cheerleader and she's the new kid, which is totally unfair."

"You're whipped, Karlie." The fit of laughter restarted.

"Shut up."


	2. Episode 2

"Really crossing a line here, mom." Taylor took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose and trying to keep some of her dignity. Todrick was about to start rolling around on her living room carpet with how much he was laughing. They became friends so quickly it was ridiculous. The boy simply started bossing her around the school like a one-person welcome committee and they bonded over their love for literature and gummy bears.

"What's the problem, dear? Many children have nocturnal enuresis at an advanced age. I just couldn't quite figure out if you were anxious or a little psychopath, what with your fondness for setting your diaries on fire.

"_Mom_!!!" The blonde girl looked mortified, the cookies on her plate already forgotten after a brief conversation with Miss Jean Swift. "I burned my diaries so you wouldn't go snooping in my things and reading them."

"How would I know? I had a ten-year-old pyromaniac in my hands wetting the bed every other day and almost killing our cats with how much you squeezed them! The dark triad right there." Jean chuckled, finding her own joke very funny, and Todrick screeched somewhere behind them.

"Well, if you don't mind, we're going out," Taylor said, rolling her eyes at her mom and heading to the door.

"Alright, darling. Don't be late for dinner."

"Thank you for the cookies, Ms. Swift," Todrick said, a smirk still plastered over his lips.

"You're always welcome, Todrick." Taylor heard her saying before shutting the door behind her and her friend.

"Taylor, you don't value her enough. I wish my mom were like that."

"Yeah, you wouldn't if she started trying to track your masturbatory habits," Taylor muttered under her breath, leaving Todrick to try to contain his laughter again. "She's just... too much. I'm tired of being analyzed and diagnosed and poked at by her."

"Have you told her that?" Todrick asked, finally understanding the seriousness of what Taylor was confessing.

"I have, but... it only leads to her being suspicious."

"Of what?"

The girl swallowed dry, stopping on her tracks. "Nothing! Nothing... Just the usual psychoanalysis Freudian bullshit." She shook her head and took a deep breath for the fifth time in the last thirty minutes. "Ok, where can we go now? I still don't know my way around this town."

"We can go watch the Angels' try-outs. Have some ice cream. Laugh at the girls who can't even leap."

"Sounds like a plan."

***

The grip of a pale winter – as winters always were in St. Louis – was finally loosening, and the school's field was recovering from months of snow, mud, and uselessness. As Taylor approached it, she could see a group of football players in blue and white jerseys sitting on the bleachers, having fun bullying each other, and laughing too loudly for a civilized social gathering. Right next to them were the cheerleaders, their white, blue, and yellow uniforms and golden ponytails bright against the fading red of the steps. About a dozen younger girls were entering the field, gushing and giggling.

"Girl, I admire your commitment to fashion. Bomber jackets in this weather..." Todrick said, pulling his light blue sweater over his head and tying it around his waist.

"I'll take you to meet New York's heatwaves one of these days," Taylor answered, but still loosened her jacket and let it fall to the middle of her upper-arms.

The cheerleaders started gathering around the younger girls, excitedly welcoming them to the try-outs, and Taylor located Karlie: bright smile on her face, almost bending to talk to a much shorter student. It didn't take Karlie too long to notice the blue eyes staring at her from the other side of the field, and she waved briefly at Taylor, trying to display a collected version of her sunshine smile. She seemed to be hesitant about crossing the field and eyed Cara briefly before reluctantly walking towards Taylor.

_Did I do something wrong?_ They didn't meet again the whole week since their class schedules were different, and Taylor was skipping half of hers – she already had enough credits from her former school. The last time they met was a quick "hi, how you doing?" in the cafeteria, too quick for even Taylor to screw up. So why was Karlie approaching her with such reluctance? She looked at Todrick to see if he noticed too, but he seemed distracted. Well, maybe it was her anxiety making her paranoid, that's what her mom would say.

"Hey captain," Taylor greeted Karlie jokingly, making Karlie smirk and look away with a short laugh. The girl stopped in front of her and Todrick, her long fingers resting on a slim waist.

"Hi, I see you already made friends," Karlie said, nodding at Todrick. "You're walking with the right guy, Todrick is the life of the party." She winked at him, who finally noticed the conversation going on and smiled back at her.

"Someone has to be, you and your girls are all technique and training and zero alcohol policy." He said, pointedly looking at the cheerleading team. "Why don't you loosen up this year?"

Karlie sighed heavily. "I'm planning on doing just that. But don't think I'll be getting plastered on Spring Ball," she answered, rolling her eyes at the idea.

"Of course not, who would hold my hair if you were in an alcoholic coma?"

The girls laughed at Todrick playing with his fictitious hair as he made a beeline to the other cheerleaders, and Taylor's eyes finally met Karlie's again. Green eyes, with specks of brown and blue, like a clear lake. Taylor wondered afterward for how long she held Karlie's stare to be able to find a body of water to compare it to. Too long, maybe. The laughter died and the shorter girl was fast to find something to say.

"Uh, I... I didn't see you by the pool this week, after that first day."

"Were you looking for me?" Karlie's smile widened and Taylor felt her face warming slightly. She smiled back, not able to hide that yes, she looked for Karlie's ponytail on the pool bleachers more than once that week. "I was a little busy planning the try-outs. Next week I'll be back to _stalking_ you as Cara said."

"Good. I didn't have the chance to impress you yet." Taylor joked.

"I'm impressed already, believe me. How does your hair look so soft after you soaked it in all that chlorine?" Karlie seemed genuinely curious, lifting one of her hands to brush away a strand of hair shadowing Taylor's face.

Taylor's breath hitched almost imperceptibly, and she rushed to say something, anything, to cover up her reaction. "Well, I... I suppose it's acceptable, but I'll never manage to get it as well-behaved in a ponytail as you do."

"Probably not." Karlie's smirk was back on her lips, and she looked over her shoulder when Cara called her name, waving her friend's impatience away. "Will you stay? For the try-outs?"

"Yep."

"So, we can do something afterward if you want."

"Fine."

"And I get to impress you."

***

Taylor was impressed. As she taught the auditioning girls a basic choreography, in case they needed ideas, Karlie made every leap, every impossible stretch of her legs look effortless – even though Taylor could watch her muscles moving forcibly under her skin. Maybe she was watching a little too closely. A few minutes later, Todrick was trying to get her attention to discreetly laugh with him at Debrah Leeland, who was currently hopping around a patch of grass, dancing to a JoJo Siwa song. "They posted one of her videos on Cursed TikToks last week. Priceless."

But Taylor was focusing on Karlie and the way her lips pursed just slightly in disapproval. When the song ended, Karlie simply thanked the girl and told the others in an authoritative tone, capable of making Taylor's chest flutter, that a one-minute audition was enough, and two minutes was the maximum – they didn't have to dance to an entire track.

"Taylor, hey, wake up!" Todrick's voice finally cut through her focus and she turned to face him. "What's with the heart eyes?"

"What heart eyes?" She schooled her expression.

"The way you're looking at the bleachers. Seeing something you like?" He nudged her ribs, not taking his eyes off the bleachers himself. "The cheerleaders or the athletes?"

"What?"

"I'm asking if you're gay," Todrick said, blatantly, not bothering to soften his words – as always.

"I'm not, I mean... I'm probably not. Statistically-"

"Oh, Taylor, sweetie, these things don't work that way." He answered, watching as Taylor stumbled through her words and failed miserably. "Would you prefer to date a cheerleader or a football player? Or both?"

"I don't do dating," Taylor said, making her answer final with a pointed look at her friend.

"Ok, fine, so stop boring a hole in Karlie Kloss' skull with your pretty eyes."

***

"Wait for me, ok? I'll just change into my normal clothes," Karlie said, already turning to run to the dressing room among the other girls. "Hey, Cara! Stop trying to figure out my password!"

"So, you're going out with Karlie?" Todrick's expression was blank, but Taylor could hear the coyness in his voice.

"Not exactly going out, we'll probably just... talk for a bit, go to the cafeteria."

"You know she has a boyfriend, right?" He assumed a slightly worried tone now. Taylor felt her heart sink just a little in her chest, but honestly, it could be just a reaction to the concern in Todrick's expression. "Not exactly a boyfriend, to be fair, more like... an unresolved long-term fling. But still, you could get hurt."

"Todrick, I told you I don't do dating. Karlie was just nice enough to take pity on the new girl and I'm not stupid enough to refuse." Taylor shrugged. Even _if_ – which was indeed a big if – she was interested in Karlie, the girl was straight.

***

When Karlie invited her to go out, she didn't realize half the cheerleading team was involved. They were heading to a pizza place downtown, in a group of way too excited girls crowding the sidewalks. Taylor could see that Karlie was trying to escape from her friends' tight grip and talk to her, but she wasn't being successful, so Taylor was left to walk behind them and pretend not to be bothered by the awkwardness.

"Alicia's still wearing her chastity ring, girls. Last night was a failure!" A redheaded girl announced, holding her friend's left hand up to everyone's line of sight. Alicia pulled her hand back to her chest, frowning deeply.

"As if I'd take it out anyway, you know I wear this thing so my dad won't freak out."

"Did something happen, then?" Another girl, with curly brown hair up in a frizzy bun, started poking at Alicia's ribs provocatively.

"Kelly, Jessica, behave!" Karlie sent a warning look over her shoulder, making the girls' smirk dissipate.

"Uh... nothing happened. I mean..." Alicia lowered her voice, looking around to see if there was anyone besides her friends on their side of the street. She apparently considered Taylor a neutral enough presence to be ignored. "I wouldn't want Jason to be the one to... you know... 'pop' my seal."

The curly-haired girl practically screeched, making Alicia blush so hard Taylor could feel the warmth radiating off her. "Sorry, sorry. I mean, you're not wrong." The girl shrugged, her shoulders still shaking with laughter.

Taylor started talking before she even noticed the words were slipping her tongue. "Technically, she is."

Karlie, who was sporting an annoyed expression during the whole conversation, frowned and turned to Taylor, curiosity burning behind her eyes. "How so?"

"Well... I..." Taylor started, fearing her throat would close and she'd stop breathing right then and there. Why did she have to go and say anything? Stupid, stupid. "I mean... it doesn't work like that, your hymen doesn't simply 'pop' during your first... uh... penetration..."

She looked around and realized the girls were suddenly quiet, all eyes focused on her, including Karlie's. Damn it.

"Every hymen has a different shape and... elasticity, it's not like a seal closing your vagina or else you wouldn't menstruate. And it can break... or 'pop', as you say, during a workout, or when you're riding a bike, or simply never break at all, and you'll be just fine anyway."

The words were floating out of Taylor, and she felt the urge of closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to deal with the embarrassment.

"You're saying my hymen is probably shaped like a fucking donut?" Cara murmured, her face so serious Taylor burst in laughter. The entire group followed her, the words "donut" and "oh my God" the only ones audible for the following forty seconds.

"Probably." Taylor dried the corner of her eyes with the sleeves of her jacket, finally regaining her composure.

"Well, now Alicia's free to fuck Jason. You go, girl!" The redhead stated, her friend looking like she could simply bury her face in the ground.

"How do you know all this? You're the new girl, right?"

Well, now... Taylor couldn't tell them her mom was a sex therapist. She would probably die before she admitted to anyone in the school her mom knew more about blowjobs than she ever would.

"I read it on Cosmo, I guess."

***

Karlie was apologizing, running to reach Taylor on the other side of the street. They all had dinner together, and soon everybody forgot Taylor had just started the most awkward conversation half an hour ago. However, some of the girls still eyed her with curiosity while they ate their slices of pizza. Karlie sat beside her then, but couldn't really hold a conversation. "Sorry for that, I just couldn't escape the girls today but I still wanted you to come, I real-"

"No need to apologize, I had fun with you guys."

"Well, they're all crazy but I guess they can be entertaining if you ignore the weirdest parts," she smiled, looking a little like a proud mother. "So, read it on Cosmo, huh?"

"Yeah, the random shit you find in these magazines..." Taylor looked down, knowing very well how unconvincing her lie was.

"Right..." Karlie muttered, letting the subject slide for Taylor's sake. "So... can I walk you home, then? Since I kinda screwed up today." She offered a little smile, already taking a couple of steps towards the direction Taylor was going previously.

"Alright." The shorter girl rolled her eyes, falling into step next to Karlie.

"So, do you miss New York?"

"I don't know... I think I do, but honestly, I've been more successful making friends here in one week than I've been in New York, and I've lived there for nine years," Taylor admitted, not knowing quite why she was opening up to someone she barely knew.

"How is it possible? You're one of these people that make me constantly wonder what they're thinking, you know?" Karlie looked away, staring at the passing buildings as she talked. "And I'm too curious not to ask."

"You wanna know what I'm thinking?"

"I do."

Taylor could hear the smile on Karlie's voice and that, combined with her words, warmed the pit of her stomach. Excitement, a weird feeling for such a trivial dialogue.

"I'm thinking about earlier. When you were teaching the new girls a choreography."

"What about that?"

"You're good at it."

Karlie chuckled, risking a glance at Taylor's direction.

"Thank you. I like to think so."

"And you have really broad shoulders."

_What the fuck did I just say?_

"Do I?" Karlie was laughing again, and Taylor decided she could get used to the sound. She sneaked some glances in the cheerleader's direction, finding that a warm blush was creeping over her neck and cheeks, and it made her look even more adorable. It was a stark contrast against her feline-like eyes and the sinuous line of her neck. _Stop staring, Taylor!_

"I also learned you're strong enough to lift a girl twice your weight, so I probably shouldn't mess with you."

"Were you planning on messing with me?"

Taylor could swear she saw a mischievous glint on Karlie's eyes, but it was gone as fast as it appeared, leaving her uncertain. Was that innuendo? No, it couldn't be. The proximity, their arms touching casually as they walked down their path, the way her body reacted to Karlie's presence... The confusion was all coming from the novelty of having her new friend so close to her, and it was to blame for her completely uncalled for interpretations of an innocent question.

"Not really, so don't give me motive."

"Oh, I'll give you plenty," Karlie smirked, her voice a lower register than Taylor had heard before. Was she really... flirting? _Should I flirt back?_

Taylor's mind short-circuited, trying to find the correct answer. The silence was hanging over their heads heavily, both unsure of their next step. Karlie cleared her throat and eyed Taylor with a shyness that hadn't been there just a moment ago. "So... what are you thinking now?"

"I'm thinking you're an enigmatic bitch yourself," Taylor joked her way out of the situation, earning a nudge on the ribs and another fit of laughter.

"Ah, don't say you don't like it."

"I do."


	3. Episode 3

Karlie arrived to the athletes' fundraising party with the intention of figuring herself out. Two weeks, two entire weeks of her mind drifting to thoughts of Taylor every day – thoughts of Taylor's side smile from across the cafeteria, her thighs brushing against each other when she walked away from the pool, her wavy hair being distractedly pulled into a ponytail and revealing the nape of her neck... even the snarky remarks she muttered under her breath during Biology classes every time someone said something childish. Just about everything about her drove Karlie insane, even though they only exchanged three full sentences since she walked Taylor home after the cheerleaders' celebration dinner. And Karlie knew well what these feelings meant, where they lead to, but she had to be sure she was attracted to girls before... before anything. Be sure it wasn't just some trick of her mind.

The thing was: her plans would have to be postponed, apparently. Ever since she arrived at the party and spotted Cara, her friend's grip on her wrist didn't loosen. Cara and Ashley had been arguing the entire week about something Karlie couldn't quite understand, something related to "Cara, not a chance in hell we're doing this, you're either completely in or out!", followed by an enraged Ashley storming out of the dressing room the day before. Now, Cara and Ashley were staring at each other across the school's parlor, each with a red cup of very strong liquor on their hands. Karlie knew that leaving her friend alone wasn't an option, so she stood by her side and pretended to have fun sipping her beer and chatting to a group of theater kids passing by.

"Please tell me they're planning to kiss each other and not kill each other." Taylor's breathy voice brushed Karlie's neck and the taller girl jumped in surprise, turning to where Taylor was standing right behind her. With useless effort, she tried to mask the shiver running through her body. What was she..._ Oh_, she was talking about Cara and Ashley.

"I'm pretty sure they'll end up doing both," the cheerleader answered, shrugging, sneaking a glance at Cara to make sure her friend wasn't hearing her over the loud music. "And I'm stuck here making sure Cara doesn't spiral out of control while they don't get their shit together."

"We can give them a hand, then." Taylor smiled, lifting her hand to brush the back of her neck nervously.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Just get them to talk to each other, I guess. Tell Cara you need company to go to the bathroom, I'll find a way to take Ashley there. Do you think it would work?" she asked, waiting for Karlie to nod in confirmation and then slipping away into the crowd towards Ashley.

Cara rolled her eyes and seemed terribly annoyed but ended up letting Karlie drag her to the bathroom with some reluctance. The only other girls in there were two freshmen taking selfies and a cheerleader that was just drying her hands. Karlie cleared her throat, staring directly at the distracted girls with the most serious expression she could convey. As soon as they noticed their presence was unwanted by the cheerleaders' captain, they made a beeline to the door and closed it behind them.

"What was that?" Cara asked, laughing at the girls' reaction.

Before Karlie could answer, the door opened again. When Ashley and Taylor entered the bathroom, Taylor was quick to close the door behind them, pressing her back against it. Cara's jaw dropped, and Karlie tried to maintain a serious expression.

"I'll fucking kill you. I'll hang your body next to the 'welcome' banner, Kloss, I swear to god." Cara's voice passed through gritted teeth, and Ashley was still too surprised by the new girl's nerve, ambushing her like that, to make a comment.

"We just want you to talk things through, and stop wasting m- your time," Taylor said, attracting Cara's murderous attention.

"We don't have to talk, it's over," Ashley said, suddenly looking exhausted. Her shoulders dropped, and she let her body fall to the side, pressing against the wall next to her.

"What?! We never said it was over, Ashley."

"Well, I said you were either in or out, and you made your choice."

"I didn't, you just stormed out! I didn't make my choice." Cara started gesticulating, walking in circles around the bathroom. Karlie glanced at Taylor and wondered if this intervention was a terrible idea.

"Then tell me! What do you want, Cara?" Ashley started walking towards Cara when someone knocked at the door. All three of them stared at Taylor, who rolled her eyes and opened the door just to scream "IT'S OCCUPIED!" at some cheerleader's face. They couldn't take too long.

Cara breathed deeply, entered a bathroom stall, and closed the metallic door. "I want everything, Ash. But I also need time to figure shit out... to figure... sex... out."

Karlie could barely hear her friend's voice over the muffled pop music playing outside.

"What do you mean?" Ashley seemed confused, and Taylor looked at Karlie triumphantly.

"I don't wanna disappoint you."

"Babe, you'd never disappoint me. What are you talking about?"

When Ashley moved to stand in front of Cara's door, Taylor lifted her hand to brush Karlie's forearm. Taylor's plan was working, and it was incredible because then Karlie would have the night to herself. But it was also terrible, because she was so amazed by the girl's cleverness that she'd probably spend the night following her wherever she wanted to go.

"I have some experience, y'know, I'm not a virgin. But uh... not with girls. And I don't want to fuck everything up. Not with you."

"But we already-"

"We were drunk as fuck, Ash. If you were sober, you'd have realized I didn't know shit about what I was doing."

The metallic little sounds coming from the stall door made it seem like Cara was banging her head softly against it, probably hugging her knees, sitting on the floor, like Karlie knew she always did when she was anxious.

"You think I care about it?"

"I do! I care about it! And if you just accepted... if we had an open relationship for a little while, I'd feel better about it."

Ashley looked alarmed, her big grey eyes, smoked with black eyeshadow, staring at the ceiling in disbelief. She moved to press her back against the sink and seemed thoughtful for a moment.

"Cara..." Taylor started, tentatively approaching the stall and nodding at Karlie, silently asking her to take a turn at guarding the door. "Do you mind if I say something?"

"Yeah, I do mind! God, I forgot you were here..." Cara groaned, banging her head against the door with more force.

"Sorry... I'll just say it anyway." Taylor bit her lower lip and stood next to where Cara was locked up. "You don't want Ashley to be there when you fail. When your fingers travel to the wrong places, when you find yourself not knowing what to do next. That's why you don't want to commit to her?"

"That's what I said."

Karlie could hear the shame in Cara's voice, the first time she witnessed her friend feeling ashamed of sex.

"Well, let me tell you. Fucking other girls won't solve your problem."

"What?!" Cara and Karlie said simultaneously, and Taylor briefly stared at the blonde girl holding the door. Someone was trying to open it, but Karlie was so enthralled by the words leaving Taylor's mouth that she failed to notice how much effort she was putting into keeping the door closed.

Without dropping Karlie's stare, Taylor resumed talking. "Each girl is completely different from the other. I know guys are usually pretty simple, but girls... Our bodies, what we like, how we find pleasure. You're not supposed to acquire experience by fucking other girls, because they're nothing like _your girl_."

Karlie and Ashley were both looking dumbfounded, staring at Taylor while she waited for Cara's answer. When the girl didn't make a sound, Taylor continued talking, and Karlie could see her cheeks turning pink.

"You'll make mistakes, but you're supposed to, because then you learn. You'll learn her body and what makes her feel good, instead of some general superficial knowledge that honestly... will lead to mediocre sex at best. And y-"

"Taylor, just shut up and get out for fuck's sake." Cara's voice sounded strangled from inside the stall, and Taylor took a step back, startled. When the girl recovered her composure, she made her way to the door, gripped Karlie's wrist and dragged her back to the party. The girls outside the bathroom looked like they could kill them when they stepped outside.

"Look, we just... have a situation inside. Taylor projectile-vomited the mirror and the stalls," Karlie lied, rubbing Taylor's shoulder, who immediately tripped on her feet pretending to be drunk and started picking fictional vomit on the ends of her blonde hair.

"Oh, god... we'll have to use the guys' bathroom." Maddie Pecker said, reflecting the disgusted look in the other girls' eyes.

"That's why I hate bitches who can't hold their liquor." The girl behind Maddie seemed angry as she turned to head to the other bathroom.

Taylor dropped her weight against Karlie's side and buried her face in the girl's neck, looking pretty much like a sleepy drunk who just threw up all the tequila she consumed. If Karlie wasn't so concentrated on not thinking about the feeling of Taylor's hot breath against her neck, she'd have admired her Oscar-winning performance.

When the other girls dissipated, they made their way back to the crowd – Taylor still pretending to be drunk, Karlie sneaking an arm around her waist. She didn't know exactly why she was keeping up the ruse, but wouldn't complain either. Having Taylor's warm weight against her was doing things to her head and her heart.

Taylor spotted Cara and Ashley leaving the bathroom five minutes after they left. They were hand in hand, looking like a happy couple, completely the opposite of what they looked like when they arrived. The smile on their faces was mirrored by the one on Taylor's face, and Karlie looked at the girl with a questioning expression now that she was reminded of what she just witnessed in the bathroom.

"Taylor... I don't think Cosmopolitan ever released an article on lesbian sex." Karlie eyed the girl, who suddenly straightened her body and took a step away. The excuse Taylor used the last time she appeared to know _a little too much_ about sex wasn't going to work this time. Also, she was quite the nerd in their sex-ed classes. _What's with this girl?_

"What do you mean?"

While Karlie tried to find the right words, a terrifying _– or maybe exciting?_ – thought hit her like a brick. Taylor knew a lot about the female anatomy. She knew how girls worked, how to bring them pleasure – at least in theory. The girl was just ten minutes ago talking about how girls' bodies are different and how fucking multiple girls wouldn't lead to a better experience and... _Oh, god, what if she's a lesbian?_

"Nothing, I... you just seem to know a lot about sex." Karlie shrugged, looking around so she wouldn't have to look in Taylor's eyes.

Taylor was silent for a little while. The loud music filled the awkward moment between them, but the room could be completely devoid of sound for all that mattered. Karlie's head was spinning with the possibilities.

"Come with me, I need to tell you something."

_Oh._

_God save me._


End file.
